A Bad Time for New Kits (Open)

Tigerstorm shuffled in her nest in the nursery. Movement was uncomfortable, but her injuries from the rogue attack had since healed relatively well. Now she had a few gouge marks in her throat and chest to match Thrushstar's but hopefully they wouldn't leave such ugly marks when they finally healed up. At her belly were two newborn kits--her kits. They were only a few sunrises old, but they were already developing personalities. They were adorable, and she loved them both dearly, but she was concerned and almost wished they could have waited... several more moons, perhaps. Things were strange now that her brother was in charge. She didn't know where she stood on that topic, and generally avoided the feeling of guilt for believing Webtail over Viperfang. She sighed and stiffly bent to lick her kits on their little heads, a strange feeling of motherly love flooding her at their mewls. Tigerstorm's mind turned to Kestrelstorm. He was lucky that Thrushstar let him stay... for now. The queen didn't like thinking about such troubling things and watched Hawkkit and Mousekit instead.

Webtail  had stayed at a distance, letting Tigerstorm have her space and adjust to the new changes. He was worried about her, with the new wounds that littered her pelt. He wasn't sure if she'd want him around, not many did anymore. There was a lot to now, the clan wasn't as big, the clans were still divided within themselves. He'd have to get some advice from Smokefang later, he didn't have any leader training or the benifit of being a deputy first. He had always felt welcomed by Tigerstorm, it would be nice to feel that way again. Webtail just wasn't sure if Tigerstorm felt the same. She had kits now, and Kerstrelstorm, perhaps it was time he let it stay that way and just let her be. He had only two of his kits left and his mate had been murdered, Tigerstorm only had two kits, luckily, she still had her mate, he'd make sure that Kerstrelstorm would remain welcome to ShadowClan. He could never let her feel the way he did when he lost his mate. He looked into the nursery, a friendly gleam in his eyes, he was happy for her.

Freckleface had decided to tell Tigerstorm about Leopardfang's last message to her. The only reason she had stayed in the withered, nightmarish version of the ShadowClan that was her home. The young warrior slipped quietly into the nursery, hoping against hope that Leopardfang's daughter wasn't friendly to the idea of the Dark Forest. "Tigerstorm?" she inquired softly.

Kestrelstorm sat awkwardly in the ShadowClan nursery. It was so odd, and so unlike WindClan. He felt like an outsider, and a horrible father to Falconstone for leaving him in a time of darkness. Kestrelstorm had not been happy when he had learned about the gathering, but he would do anything to stay with his new kits. His head bent down to glance down at the firstborn of the litter, Hawkkit. She shared his body type but her mother's pelt. The warrior had named the kit after the hawk he had killed by himself in WindClan, and for her dark tabbied pelt. He also thought it'd be a nice tradition to name his first born kits after birds of prey. Tigerstorm had decided on Mousekit. The Hawk and the Mouse.... It was almost ominous. Kestrelstorm glanced up as another cat entered the nursery.

The queen's attention was first drawn to Webtail as he looked into the nursery. Despite it all, seeing him now was comforting. He couldn't be blamed for doing what he thought was right. She smiled kindly and meowed a greeting. "Looking for your new niece and nephew, Webtail? They're so small and helpless. I can hardly believe that we were once this small. It won't be long before they're old enough to go exploring." There was a decent amount of space since she was the only queen in the nursery, but it was still a little cramped with Kestrelstorm beside her and Freckleface slipping in as well. She didn't know the new warrior very well, just that she was formerly trained by Leopardfang. A mentor was very influential to an apprentice, and Tigerstorm couldn't help but wonder if it had hurt Freckleface like it had hurt her when she realized that the deputy wasn't coming back. "Hello. Did you need something, or are you here to see the kits?"

The little tomkit mewled loudly in protest to all the new scents that were flooding him. He had been comforted by the scent of his mother from birth, and had just become use to his father's, but the new ones coming in carried smells of the outside with them that were a little frightening. He attempted to bury himself farther into his mother's stomach before settling with hiding beneath her tail-tip.

Webtail nodded, curling his tail at the sight of the small kits. "Somewhat, I wanted to see how you were doing as well, you seem like you were in a nasty fight." He mewed, looking at the painful looking marks on her pelt. "What are their names?" He asked, changing the subject to something more lighthearted, a purr escaping him as Mousekit burrowed into Tigerstorm's side, the small kit could just barely be seen, he looked so much like his mother. It brought back both painful and some of the most cherished memories he had to see kits again. The silver tom spotted the small tail that didn't make it under the owner's mother, he couldn't imagine how he and his littermates survived being that small in leafbare..

Littlepaw had been hunting when she padded into camp, a juicy sparrow in her jaws. She was about to drop it on the fresh kill pile but remembered that Tigerstorm had had her kits and decided to bring it to her. Leopardfang had told her to watch out for her since he had to leave. She'd never really talked to her before but she was eager to help and wanted to keep her promise to Leopardfang. She padded to the crowded nursery poking her head in and giving a friendly nod and smile to all the other cats inside. "Hey Tigerstorm, are ya hungry?" She mewed, her words muffled from the sparrow she was carrying. She smiled, as best she could with her jaws full, at the small little bundles that were Tigerstorms kits, laughing softly when one of them attempted to hide under his mothers tail. She looked back at Tigerstorm and waited for a response.

Muddypaw saw Littlepaw enter the nursery, he titled his head and padded into the warm, but crowded nursery. He saw Littlepaw talking to a queen he hadn't seen, he slowly walked over, two kits were next to the she-cat. He looked at Littlepaw and back at the queen, he looked closely at the two newborns, hearing what only a little bit of what Webtail had asked he asked to with a nod "Y-Yeah, what are their names?" he mewed awkwardly as always.

She watched her kits lovingly for a few heartbeats before noticing more visitors. "Yes, Littlepaw, I certainly am!" Tigerstorm said, looking up at the apprentices. She was grateful that there was still a sense of compassion in the clan in spite of recent events. She was glad that her brother still seemed to care for her as well. "It was particularly ugly." She answered Webtail, thinking back to the event. "The she-kit is Hawkkit. She's the firstborn. It was Kestrelstorm's idea for a name and I quite like it; I hope one day she's as fierce as the bird of prey she's named for. And the shy little tomkit is called Mousekit. The name is not so powerful, but I know that even the smallest of warriors can be great." The queen meowed, smiling warmly at the Muddypaw and Littlepaw.

Littlepaw smiled as Tigerstorm responded, happy to be of help, she padded over to her and set down the sparrow before backing up to give the others some room. She sat down in a corner of the nursery, trying not to take up too much space, tail tip twitching happily.

Webtail nodded and let his green gaze fall onto his sister. "I'm glad you're alright, I don't know what I'd do without you." He blinked and looked turned to look out at the camp clearing for a moment before turning his attention back to the others in the nursery. "You're kits will certainly have the clan fawning over them. Kits always bring the clan together, surely your's will too."He nodded to the little scruffy pelts. "Hawkkit and Mousekit will become great warriors if you're their mother. You carry more of Shimmerheart's traits than Viperfang and I combined it seems." The tom chuckled softly. As Littlepaw gave her the sparrow and sat off to the side, he couldn't help but feel relived that such a kind cat stayed around his son. Ferretshine had disowned both of the in a harsh way, Littlepaw would certainly help him through it.

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Muddypaw chuckled, happy to know the kits names. As he did feel a bit comfortable with Cinnamonstep around, he still felt a little quiet.

Freckleface glanced around nervously at all the cats coming in... She'd have to wait. She forced out a purr. "I just came to see your kits," she stammered. "Cute little things. Now, I suppose I ought to go." She scrambled out of the nursery. Maybe tonight...

OOC: Hopefully it's not awkward that I'm slipping Adderkit into this ;-;

IC: Adderkit sat at the edge of the nursery, concealed in the shadows. He was a few moons old by now, and his eyes had changed from blue to their rightful color: yellow. His small body was curled into a ball of black fluff and he stayed silent as he watched Tigerstorm and the others gush over her newly born kits. Adderkit didn't mind that all the attention was being ripped away from him and given to the two newly borns. He knew not to let jealousy and anger control him, and he knew to do what was most logical. That was to disappear for a little and let Tigerstorm focus on her family. If Adderkit couldn't have a family, he'd rather let those who tried to give him one have one of their own. And to do that, he had to stay out of the way and lurk in the shadows, where he belonged the most.

Kestrelstorm stood awkwardly as apprentice and warrior and leader alike gushed over his kits. He felt invisable, and has since her arrived, which was a new feeling for him. His hieght and status of sorts had always made him feel seen. Perhaps it was his loud mouthed personality. Nevertheless, now the tall warrior was a shadow. He spoke minimully, and most of it to Tigerstorm or his kits. Kestrelstorm opened his mouth to speak, but then quickly closed it. Webtail couldn't be bothered with a WindClan warrior's small talk.

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